Martial Art, A Minang's Way of Life

Gusmiati was born on 16 August 1942 in the village of Parak Jua, Batusangkar, West Sumatra. (note 4) Said Gasim Shahab, her father, was of Arabic descent and Asiah, her mother, was a native Minang. Both were public school teachers. Gusmiati was raised in a devout Moslem family that at the same time held tight to adat. As such it was not her father who was responsible for her education, but her mamak, the late Wahid Sampono Alam, who was a martial artist.

According to the matrilineal traditions of Minang society, women are responsible for the management of the house and the material wealth of a clan. As such, they spend most of their time in the traditional rumah gadang (big house), which belongs to them. (Unlike in the West, her property does not transfer to him upon marriage.) A Minang man, on the other hand, spends most of his time outside the rumah gadang, returning there only to eat and sleep with his wife (a man living in his wife's rumah gadang is called a sumando). As a result, men's lives after working in the rice fields are carried out mostly in the surau (village prayer house), in which men practice reciting the Koran, at the sasaran (an outdoor open space in which they practice martial arts), and at the food stalls to eat, drink, and chat. Boys learn early about this way of life. From seven years old or even younger, they follow the example of their elders, spending most of their time with friends in the surau to learn how to read the Koran and to pray, or in the sasaran to practice martial arts.

As outlined above, a Minang man is morally obliged to carry out merantau (leave his village) in order to search for material wealth, money, and knowledge to enrich his village. A young man who has never left is considered baguno balun ("not useful yet"). In order to protect themselves from robbery and attacks by wild animals, among other dangers on this personal and cultural journey, these young men have to master martial arts skills. In the past, this ethos of venturing into the wild marked the practice of local martial arts–including various other performances and dances–as the provenance of men. Only after the independence of Indonesia in 1945 did Minang girls begin to perform on stage. They began not only to dance but also to practice–in smaller numbers, to be sure–pencak-silat (martial arts).

At the age of four, Wahid Sampono Alam, Gusmiati's maternal uncle, insisted she learn pencak-silat. "Otherwise," he explained, "the Kumango martial arts tradition will perish." He told tiny Gusmiati, "focusing your attention or concentration is very important in martial arts. It is as if you are driving a car." Even though she was too young to understand what a driver was, he continued. "When you drive a car, your focus is to the road in front of you. But you must be aware of whatever occurs on your left and right side, even behind you, through the mirror. So it goes in practicing martial arts: focus your attention on the person in front of you–your partner or your enemy; at the same time, remain well aware of what is happening all around you."

A very strict and demanding teacher, Wahid Sampono Alam would punish little Gusmiati when she didn't take practicing seriously by making her stand in the house pond for hours. Or he would assign her a special task, such as taking care of the green frogs–of which she was terribly scared. Gusmiati had to face punishments such as these when she didn't fulfill her uncle's expectations. One day, Gusmiati visited a neighboring family's house. When she returned, her uncle asked her how many trees she saw on the way home. Unable to respond precisely, she knew what to do: immerse herself in the family pond. Wahid Sampono Alam had implanted in Gusmiati the essence of Minang traditional life values as reflected in the most famous Minang aphorism, "alam takambang jadi guru," a saying that, as intimated above, implies that a Minang must always observe carefully the workings of nature (the universe, one's surroundings) and take them as one's teacher or guru.

But adat does not operate alone in a Minang's life, because adat is based on syarak (Islamic laws), and Islamic laws are based on the Books of God, i.e., the Koran and the Hadith. So, as a child, like many other girls in her village, Gusmiati regularly went to the village surau to study the Koran, to pray, and to deepen her understanding of Islamic laws and teachings.

Gusmiati later summarized the essence of what she had learned from her uncle: "One must be very careful in one's life, always pray to Allah, to ask only His help in times of difficulties. One must discipline oneself and have self-confidence." Maintaining a strong will, and working with self-discipline, focused attention, intensity, and patience were other qualities Gusmiati learned from her early training in martial arts, which she faithfully practiced until her death in 2001. For all of her life, Adat and syarak were always with her.